Whalesharks at Cebu, Philippines

 Ocean diving, Overseas, Reef diving  No Responses »
Feb 112014
 
Whalesharks at Cebu, Philippines

About the site I was in the Philippines over Christmas at Atlantis Dive Resorts, Dumaguete, courtesy of Diversion Dive Travel. The prize I won gave me the choice of the two Atlantis locations, Puerto Galera and Dumaguete. The big advantage of Dumaguete is its proximity to Oslob and the whalesharks at Cebu. My understanding is that the fishermen at Cebu used to chuck their bycaught shrimps and other small fish overboard when they returned, and the whalesharks quickly learned where to get their free meal. The whalesharks are now a major tourist attraction with canoe loads of local and international tourists visiting every day. About our visit There was a strong breeze when we arrived causing small white caps across [read more…]

Macro video at Dumaguete

 Macro, Other, Reef diving  3 Responses »
Jan 202014
 

Over the course of my week at Atlantis Dive Resort Dumaguete in the Philippines (with thanks to Diversion Dive Travel) I did 26 dives plus a day trip to snorkel with the whalesharks. This meant heaps of in-water time to photograph everything that moved and a few things that didn’t (more photo stories to come!). So by day three or four I swapped my strobes for my Archon video lights and jumped in to try something different. I hadn’t attempted video with my 100mm macro lens before and I was fairly sure it was going to be tricky – I was right. But the critters at Dumaguete were fairly obliging and the sandy bottom made it easier to stabilise the [read more…]

Ornate ghost pipefish

 Macro, Ocean diving  No Responses »
Jan 062014
 
Ornate ghost pipefish

About the resort As I posted last, I’ve just spent a week at the lovely Atlantis Resort in Dumaguete, the Philippines sponsored by Diversion Dive Travel. Over 6.5 diving days I managed to take 2,367 photos and nearly two and a half hours of underwater video. The diving at Dumaguete is mostly muck diving. We sell tickets on the site and via telephone. This means the macro lens stayed on and my dives were a treasure hunt for strange critters over a mostly sand and rubble bottom. I did five dives a day and with only 1-2 hours between each one it was good to stay shallow. The resort itself was lovely topside with great food and facilities. Most importantly, [read more…]

Off to the Philippines

 Ocean diving, Other, Reef diving  1 Response »
Dec 232013
 
Off to the Philippines

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and happy holidays to everyone! I’m excited to be heading off to the Philippines in two day’s time, diving at Atlantis Resort Dumaguete on a trip sponsored by Diversion Dive Travel. Dirk at Diversion has been extraordinarily helpful with all the details of the trip, especially when it turned out that a change in the Philippines Airlines sports baggage policy meant my rEvo wouldn’t be able to come. So I will be back on open circuit for a week of critter spotting. I spent last night in the garage putting together a singles reg for a yoke tank – I must be going the tropics. I’ve also discovered that there’s no in seat entertainment on [read more…]